Walter Isaacson: The Greatest Sentence Ever Written
Walter Isaacson argues that the Declaration of Independence's opening sentence contains a roadmap for navigating today's democratic crisis, at Northwestern's CHF day.
Why we picked this
Isaacson's gift is making foundational American texts feel urgent rather than ceremonial — and the Declaration's 'self-evident truths' have rarely been more contested. A well-timed argument for going back to the source.
Walter Isaacson is the bestselling biographer of Steve Jobs, Leonardo da Vinci, Benjamin Franklin, Albert Einstein, and Elon Musk, and a former president of CNN and editor of Time magazine. In recent years he has turned his attention to the founding documents of American democracy — and in particular to the argument that a close reading of what the founders actually wrote contains better guidance for the current moment than most contemporary political commentary.
This talk, presented as part of the Robert R. McCormick Foundation Program at the Chicago Humanities Festival’s Northwestern Day, focuses on a single sentence: the second sentence of the Declaration of Independence, which Isaacson argues is the most consequential sentence in American political history. His presentation makes the case that understanding it carefully — what it claims, what it leaves open, and what it demands — can help clarify the path forward for a country arguing over its own foundations.
Part of the Chicago Humanities Festival’s Northwestern University Day at Pick-Staiger Concert Hall.